“Both energies together,” Yayo told MTV News of his latest partnership on Wednesday (September 17). “It was a while back when we was beefing with Fat Joe, and he said I was the ‘2008 version of Flavor Flav.’ I took it good. Me and Flav kicked it backstage, and the two things he said to me: ‘Stay alive and stay out of jail.’ ”

Flavor Flav was the G-Unit’s special guest during their Albany, New York, concert
on Saturday. The imperial member of Public Enemy came out for Yayo’s “So Seductive.”

“The energy onstage when I said ‘Flaaaaavor Flaaaaaaaaav!’ — the crowd went crazy,” Yayo continued. “Me and him got the same kinda energy. I look up to a lot of the old-school rappers: Flavor, Chuck D, Whodini. I seen that rap from the ’80s to ’90s to now. Flavor Flav, for you to get out of jail and be in one of the biggest rap groups in the country, come off Rikers Island, create your own hustle, create your own show, then have the number-one show in the country. When I came out, I was on easy street. 50 took care of me.”

Yayo said the Albany show was the first time the Unit and Flav crossed paths.

“We was backstage, I got to meet a lot of his kids, five of his kids,” Yayo said. “I talked to his baby mother. He got to meet 50 and Banks. I’m a big fan of Flavor. His energy when he gets onstage, his is 10 times what mine is. He’s entertaining. That’s what people want. That’s what I try to do — entertain people on the stage. When I see a boring show, I get bored. That’s why I looked up to people like Flav and Doug E. Fresh. I asked Doug the secrets of shows. I ran into him at the airport. He said, ‘Before a show, I don’t eat, don’t drink and get a lot of rest.’ I listened to that. Then Flavor, when he came out on that stage and we did ‘So Seductive,’ I did his dance. Right now, he’s happy I made the dance popular. We talked yesterday.”

Another moment in the show that had everyone talking was when 50 had fun with Kanye West, doing his own rendition of “Love Lockdown.” Yayo said the crew was just having a good time and that they would welcome another SoundScan showdown
with Mr. West. Kanye’s 808’s & Heartbreak
and 50’s Before I Self Destruct are due in December, one week apart from each other.

“That’ll be fun,” Yayo noted. “In my eyes, I don’t think Kanye will never be bigger than Fif, no matter what his numbers do.”